this question is directed toward tinman, but anyone may reply.
tinman stated that one loses the ability to improve their vo2max (or, at least, the potential max) after one's mid-twenties. being a 25yo 1.5years into running -- with no vo2max work under my belt -- i said, "dang it, why did i get into this great sport so late?" tinman replied -- a page back -- that one ought to do 3-4 minute efforts with plenty of recovery in order to work v02max. this seems pretty consistent with everything else that i have read.
although i have waffled back and forth trying to determine just why i run and just what distance i would compete -- if i ever actually get into a race -- i recently determined that 10k to marathon best suits my racing and training temperment. it has been with great interest, then, that i have read and re-read the "double whammy" thread --
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=149651&page=3
-- and its implications for hadd's style of training --
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=91048&thread=91048
-- as well as, lydiard's and the japanese system of marathon training, of course. what i gather from the 'double whammy' thread is that one first develops his/her AEROBIC CAPACITY via long distance running at marathon pace or slower (with an appropriately high ANAEROBIC CAPCITY as maintained by regular 100-150m sprints). it is through months of this work that one may then rightly look toward 3/5k > half marathon paced efforts (per contested race pace) in order to develop AEROBIC POWER, which is simply the percent of your capacity which you can actually use in a race (that is, you might have a great aerobic capacity, but if you don't train at race pace, you won't be able to see how great it is). in my mind i have always imagined a motorcycle ramp that you build with aerobic distance work ... how far you go off that jump depends upon the height of that ramp, of course, but it also depends upon your bike, and if you don't work on the bike, you either don't make it up the ramp, or you just tip off the edge when it's time to race. :)
i mention all of this because i am trying to locate "vo2max" within the exphys theoretical scene of the "double whammy" thread (as "balance" has presented it). it seems to me that vo2max could be synonomous with aerobic power. if this is the case, then it is not a good idea to work vo2max during the base phase of marathon development. this seems clear. which in some respects, puts me -- or any other mid-twenty's runner just starting out -- in a predicament. how do we build both our aerobic CAPACITY and our aerobic POWER (which apparently loses its upper malleability some time soon) when their development is mutually exclusive ... and! we realize that our peak running years from now to our early 30s, giving us only 5-7 years to maximize our lifetime potential. in training for 10k>marathon, do we sacrifice some aerobic capacity development by shortening a base period in order to work aerobic power? that is, 3 months capacity, 2 months power, (race, if you want to), rest, repeat ...
furthermore, does what i ask even make sense? the "double whammy" thread mentions that the pre-competition phase includes 1) looong distance to lower the anaerobic capacity (apparently you want to stay away from looong distance during the base phase ... though long (say 20 miles) is okay) which you had kept high during the base phase with short sprints (to ward off the 'double whammy' ;) ), 2) aerobic power workouts at race pace (say, 1200s at 10k pace and 5ks at half marathon pace). does this work reduce aerobic capacity, stop aerobic capacity development, or simply slow-down that development? if the latter is the case, then it seems one isn't going backward by working on vo2max while keeping distance high, but is simply putting a hold on development. is this true?
anyhow. that's just a long rambling question. perhaps a shorter one would be: how/why does v02max development stop in one's mind-twenties? and what does this mean for someone starting out in his/her mid 20's and interested in racing 10k to marathon ditances with 5ks thrown in for fun measure, but not for world records or anything like that. ;)
-hrm